


Letters from the Fire Lord

by Daffadowndilly



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Drabble, Letters, Prompt 2, Zutara, Zutara Week 2018
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-06-19 07:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15505482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daffadowndilly/pseuds/Daffadowndilly
Summary: Zuko sends Katara a letter. She replies. It's the start of something wonderful.





	1. Letters

_“To Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe.”_

That’s how the first letter had been addressed.

 

At first it had made her smile. It sounded to her as though maybe Zuko was uncertain of what level of formality was appropriate and had opted for safety. Over the years she had grown to have faith in her intuition and sensitivity to the feelings of others, so when she sent her own in return it was addressed much more warmly.

 

A few weeks passed with no letters addressed from the Firelord. A few weeks of travel time was nothing out of the ordinary for a letter from the South Pole to treach he heart of the Fire Nation, let alone for a response to arrive, but as the days passed a gnawing feeling took up near-permanent residence in Katara’s stomach. It was possible, she realized, that Zuko had not been uncertain at all, but rather that he had been exactly as friendly as he had deemed necessary. In which case, the tone of easy familiarity of her own letter might strike him as uncomfortable, or even inappropriate.

 

Her fears were only a little assuaged when his response arrived, addressed simply to “ _Katara._ ” This, she  thought, felt like some kind of compromise. She took the change in address as a sign that he did not mind the tone of her letter, and so decided that her answering letter need not be less friendly then first.  

 

That evening by the light of the fire, Katara sat down to write her reply. “ _Zuko_ ,” she began- and paused. She pulled out his letter and re-read it. The contents were very characteristic of him, much more so than the first letter. A few sentences here or there had that startling quality of sudden vulnerability that he had demonstrated only a few times in person.

 

Sighing, Katara took out a knife and carefully cut off the top part of the scroll and started again.

 

“ _Dear Zuko,_ ” she wrote, “ _I understand completely, I’ve been struggling with something kind of similar; we all have. Aang is the only one used to it, but of course Sokka just eats it up. Once, when he was 15, he actually introduced himself as “kind of” a prince. He was completely serious but to this day I think that was one of his best jokes. I, on the other hand, was never really interested in this kind of attention._

 

 _I can’t imagine how much worse it must be for you. Firelord_ on top _of world-saving member of Team Avatar? That must get you some pretty intense fans...”_

 

They’re correspondence continued like that for five months or so. Letters from Zuko had become a constant in Katara’s life very quickly, and she started to look forward to them more an more as the rest of her life become more tumultuous.

  


* * * * *

 

After a particularly bad night of nightmares and restlessness, she sent Zuko a letter via Aang who was leaving for the Fire Nation that morning. She started regretting the letter as soon as the ship was out of sight.

 

His response came in a quarter of the customary time and was written in a messy, unclean script that was barely recognizable as Zuko’s handwriting. The letter also came with a number of changes to the usual pattern. For one, it was brought by an extraordinarily handsome messenger hawk with the strangest, most beautiful feathers Katara had ever seen and eyes a familiar color of gold. For another, it began a little differently than usual.

 

“ _Dear Katara,_

 

_I’m sorry. You gave more to the war than anyone should ever have had to. And despite being barely more than a child when you first set off to save the planet, you took on not only the role of hero, but of caretaker for your brother, for Aaang, for Toph… You’re burden has been too heavy for too long. There is no dishonor or shame in what you’re going through now. You are not weak. You never have been._

 

_I haven’t forgotten what it was like to see through the eyes of an enemy. From the first time we met I could see your strength. (I hope you don’t remember that incident with the pirates as vividly as I do, so I’ll summarize) you were captured but undefeated, cornered but unyielding. I don’t even want to talk about the first time I fought you. To be completely honest, you were terrifying._

 

_Uncle mentioned to me just the other day that he wished you would come and visit. He hasn’t gotten to know you as well as he Toph, but he wants to. He said he can “tell that she has added much wisdom to that iron will and endless passion that makes her so invaluable to the world.” A compliment I think is relevant right now. I did try to tell him that you’re very busy, but he only said “Katara has shown herself to be deeply compassionate. How can she refuse an old, dying man?” He isn’t actually dying, he’s just old._

 

_I get the dreams, too. Most mornings I can just forget them as soon as I leave my bed, but sometimes they stick to me all day, hanging around my head like heavy clouds. If you discover anything that helps I’d love to hear about it. I’d like to hear about them either way._

 

_You know, you once told me that the scar on my face wasn’t ugly, that it was some kind of badge of honor, a physical reminder of a time when I stood for something I knew was right in spite of the consequences. Are the scars on your mind any different?_

 

 _The war_ is _over Katara. While we always rely (perhaps too much) on your strength, no one needs you to be ok all of the time. I promise. There is time now to breathe. The whole world has wounds still to heal, they understand that you do too. Yours may be deeper than many but only because your sacrifice was greater._

 

_Sorry that this letter is so rambling and disorganized, much like my own thoughts. We’re having problems with fanatics in the city and there’s an unknown disease spreading through the Fire Nation that we’re trying to find some way to contain. This letter will have to be short, but I’ll send it as fast as I kind find a reliable bird to carry it._

 

_Love,_

_Zuko_

 

_P.S. This is apparently the smartest, bravest, fastest bird in the known universe. It is well trained and should be able to go anywhere you send her, and find you again no matter where you go. Name it well._

 

_P.P.S. It’s a girl, by the way. The bird. Sometimes she gets confused about whether fingers are food or not. Approach with caution._

 

_P.P.P.S Iroh isn’t the only one who would like to see you._

  


Zuko’s accustomed sign off was “sincerely,” and he had never added a postscript. Katara was so distracted by the tone of the letter and the water in her eyes it took a few moments for the P.S. to sink in. Had he _given_ her the bird?

 

Warily, remembering the second postscript, Katara ran her fingers lightly over the shining feathers, more like the scales of a dragon shrew or a morpho butterfly than a bird. How expensive was she?

 

* * * * *

 

With the aid of Kirei the hawk, letters that once took three weeks to arrive took only five or six days. Just shy of three months later, Zuko got himself a hawk as well so that while one bird carried a letter the other rested. His bird had the usual red and brown coloring and took two days longer to make the trip between the Fire Nation and the South Pole, but he was reliable and seemed to bond with Zuko abnormally quickly.

 

The content of the letters themselves were forever changed as well. All Zuko’s letters now started with “dear” and ended with love. They regularly contained whole passages characterized by that unexpected vulnerability and explosive honesty of his that Katara found so compelling. Her own letters were equally open.

 

In the space of a few months Zuko had become her closest confidant and one of her dearest friends. Reading his letters now it seemed impossible that only half a year before he had sent her a single-page note addressed to “ _Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe.”_

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Pictures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Further communications between Firelord Zuko and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe

 

 

_Dear Katara,_

_I am sending a letter back with the supplies. I thought I’d send Kirei back in the meantime. She still bites me._

_Love, Zuko_

 

Katara appreciated that he had sent her Kirei while she waited for his next correspondence. She hated long unexplained gaps between letters. The war might be over, but Zuko was a Firelord now, and just as likely to be in danger as he had ever been, maybe more so. The feeling of uncertainty that had permeated Katara’s life up until the defeat of Ozai could not be erased by a few years of relative safety. She liked her friends to keep in contact.

Zuko had seemed to understand this instinctively: he had once told her not to worry if Aang was out of touch for some time, explaining that he’d had urgent Avatar business in Omashu and would be travelling for many days. She had greatly appreciated this warning and further appreciated that Zuko not only could understand but also anticipated her anxiety and discomfort with loss of contact.

She was deeply unnerved then when, a scant seven weeks later, Zuko’s letters stopped without warning. Their letters had never taken more than eight days to arrive since they’d started using carrier birds, and they rarely took more than a few days to read one another’s letters and write a response. Kirei would be carrying Zuko’s next letter since Rin Lee (the stupid name he had given his hawk) had been needed in the Fire Nation for matters regarding their plague problem. As Kirei could deliver a letter in five days, Katara expected to receive one in no more than seven.

When Kirei failed to appear on time, Katara tried to shrug it off, thinking that Zuko had been delayed a day or two in writing and that his letter would come in the next couple of days. It did not. She was unable to send a second message requesting confirmation that everything was O.K., as her bird was currently in the Fire Nation and Zuko’s was on official business; Katara could do nothing but wait.

Nearly a week after the expected arrival date and Katara was worried. She had no means of communication that even approximated the speed of a messenger hawk, but she had to do something. She was needed in the South Pole for the moment, their community was starting to grow again for the first time in her memory and she was the only living healer. Two women were expecting to give birth, and there was a little girl with fever who needed her attention. So she sent a letter to her brother.

Sokka was not in the Fire Nation, but she sent her message with a trading company bound for the Earth Kingdom. They gave it to Sokka on Kyoshi Island, where he had been visiting Suki. Sokka went to the mainland and from there got on the fastest ship bound for the Fire Nation capital.

According to his own account, he stormed in expecting to find Zuko the victim of some treasonous plot requiring all of Sokka’s (immense) brain-power and (considerable) warrior’s skill to rescue.

When he found the young man alive and well, feverishly poring over old books and medical manuscripts, Sokka apparently delivered a dressing-down of epic proportions to the unprepared Firelord Zuko, _“How could you worry her like that, what is wrong with you”_ and _“You can’t just decide you don’t care anymore, Katara still cares. Katara always cares”_ and _“why is it so dusty in here.”_

Zuko quickly sent Katara an apology and assurance that he was well. She gathered, from Sokka’s description of his reaction to Sokka’s tirade and from reading between the lines of Zuko’s apology letter that, while Zuko had seemed to know innately that interruptions in her communication with those she cared about would cause Katara to feel that old wartime mix of dread and anxiety… he simply had never considered that he was one of the people that could evoke such fear.

He had never again failed to tell her if there was the slightest chance that his next letter might be late.

Now, a few days after Kirei had returned with Zuko’s note about the supplies, the shipment came in. On it were some food and medical supplies, a trained healer and her apprentice from the Northern Water Tribe, some building materials, and 16 settlers from various location around the world that had been displaced during the war and had volunteered to relocate to the Southern Water Tribe to aid in revitalization, all brought aboard a Fire Nation battleship.

Katara had wondered why Zuko would send his letter with the convoy, but understood when it was given to her by one of the ship’s crew members. It was not a scroll like her bird could carry, but was stiff and flat and in a large rectangular envelope.

 

_Dear Katara,_

 

The letter begun in the usual way, but was not followed by words. Instead, a picture filled the page, the image was pleasant and seemed to hold a warmth in it beyond the muted colors of the paint. It showed a serene garden scene centered on a pond beside an old tree. On its surface a few turtle ducks swam contentedly. There were a pair of long-tailed birds in the sky of a type Katara did not recognize, and on the well-kept grass a few stray flowers stood rebelliously, swaying a little in an invisible wind.

It looked wonderful to Katara.

At the bottom of the page there were a few lines of text.

 

_Uncle is becoming more insistent that you visit. He is constantly complaining about it, and it’s becoming irritating._

_We hope you will come soon._

 

There was also a very small note on regular paper that read:

_These must be the only things in this whole place that aren’t red or gold. I saw it and I thought it was pretty. I remember you said you missed having growing things around you at the South Pole, so I thought you might like it._

_There are lots of growing things here._

 

Katara looked inside the envelope, hoping for a clue that would clarify the words, perhaps another note. She turned the envelope upside down, and that a pressed flower of the kind in the image -- somehow more beautiful to Katara for being simple and unimpressive -- fell out, drifting gently down into her open palm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'm back at it again.

**Author's Note:**

> I genuinely might write a 6 chapter fic from this. I sewed so many seeds here. If I wasn't desperately hammering out these Zutara Week fics on the day of then maybe they'd be better but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Hope you enjoyed it anyway! I am so grateful to everyone who reads/comments/gives kudos/or creates content for this year's Zutara Week!


End file.
